The instant invention relates to an improved television interface system which utilizes a TV program information database.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,047,867 described an interface for a TV-VCR system which enabled the user to enter information concerning the user's favorite television programs. Such information can include program name, broadcast channel, starting time, length, repeat pattern and whether the user wanted the program recorded. The patent further described an interface system in which such information could be provided in an intuitive and easy manner through the television receiver's display. The teachings of this patent are incorporated by reference herein.
Television systems utilizing downloadable TV program information have been described, for example, by Insight Telecast, Inc. and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,751,578; 4,706,121 and 4,977,455, which are incorporated by reference herein. Using these systems, TV program information can be downloaded and stored in a memory to be displayed on the television display. U.S. Pat. No. 5,093,718 describes a system which can provide such information, including graphics and interactive options, over a "fast data" path which can be a cable, fiber optic or satellite system. These references are incorporated by reference herein.
In the December, 1986 issue of "Communications of the ACM" (Vol. 29, No. 12, pp. 1229-1239), in an article by Stanfill and Kahle entitled "Parallel Free-Text Search On The Connection Machine System", the method known as "free text search" is described which details a method in which seed words are located which can be used to correlate information provided in one or more portions of text. The teachings of this article are incorporated by reference herein. An overview of this subject is provided by the book "Automatic Text Processing" by Salton.
An object of the instant invention is to provide a user interface which can access downloaded TV program information, which can be continually updated and provided either "over the air", over cable or satellite transmission paths or other "fast data" paths, and to automatically correlate this information with the preferences of the user, to create at least one program information database based upon the results of the correlation.